Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852: As Told by Mary Ann and Willis Boatman and Augmented with Accounts by other Overland Travelers

By Weldon Willis Rau

With numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers as well as hordes of gold-seekers destined for California, the 1852 overland migration was the largest on record in a year taking a terrible toll in lives mainly due to deadly cholera. Included here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married couple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, released for the first time in book-length form.

In its immediacy, Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852 opens a window to the travails of the overland journeyers--their stark camps, treacherous river fordings, and dishonest countrymen; the shimmering plains and mountain vastnesses; trepidation at crossing ancient Indian lands; and the dark angel of death hovering over the wagon columns. But also found here are acts of valor, compassion, and kindness, and the hope for a new life in a new land at the end of the trail.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Washington State University Press
• Release date: Aug 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781636820644

Weldon Willis Rau

Weldon Willis Rau of Olympia, Washington, is a retired research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the State of Washington. He is a great grandson of Puyallup pioneers Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, the principal figures in Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852. Rau’s book is the culmination of 15 years of extensive field investigations and archival/library study.

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Introduction

THIS NARRATIVE DEALS primarily with the experience of venturing west during the peak year of emigrant travel, 1852. Only because diarists and journalists faithfully recorded daily events do we have documentation of the long and difficult mid-nineteenth century journey across the continent. Through the efforts of these people of vision and determination, it is possible to learn about their daily routine, their impressions of what they saw, and the emotions they felt regarding the events that took place along the way.

Although material from many diaries and journals is incorporated here, the accounts of Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, a young, newlywed couple from Illinois, are featured. Mary Ann’s narrative, presented here in full, serves as the principal source for the first, long months of the journey, whereas Willis wrote largely about the latter part of the trip and experiences as pioneers in the Northwest. Mary Ann’s hand-written manuscript, contained in four notebooks, is in the possession of the author.¹ As indicated in her text, it was written fifty-three years after the 1852 journey. An unknown person made typescripts of her manuscript in the 1930s, copies of which are known to have been placed at the University of Washington, the Washington State Historical Society, and among family members.

Willis prepared two hand-written versions of his story, both of which are also in the possession of the author. ² It is unknown when he prepared these manuscripts. Typescripts also were prepared of each. In 1937, one version appeared in Told by the Pioneers, vol. 1, a Public Works Administration publication. Materials from both versions of Willis’s story have been incorporated here.

Although none of the Boatman manuscripts are diaries, it is known that Mary Ann kept an account during the trek.³ Because her surviving story, written more than a half-century after the journey, contains exceptional detail, it is believed she wrote her narrative in 1905 with her original account in hand. Unfortunately, the original was destroyed, probably because it contained material of a personal nature.

The latter part of her story lacks the details, particularly of time and place, that she vividly recorded in the first part. Obviously tiring during the trek, her record keeping may not have been as complete during the latter days of the journey, a pattern to which many a journalist succumbed. Enthusiasm, no doubt, had dwindled and more effort was required in meeting the needs of survival.

Although Mary Ann did not, for unknown reasons, quite finish the account in 1905, Willis related interesting details regarding the latter part of the long and grueling journey. He also recalled some significant and exciting historical events of which they were a part following their arrival in the Puget Sound country. The two stories, together with other short accounts told by their children and several newspaper reports, are here combined. Editing of all material has been limited and only for the purpose of clarity.

As noted, neither Mary Ann nor Willis discussed the complete trek, leaving sections of the journey unmentioned or only broadly generalized. In order that the reader better perceives the entire experience, additional material is incorporated here from other select diaries and journals, largely for the year 1852. Therefore, in an attempt to present a complete and comprehensive account of traveling west to Oregon in 1852, the Boatmans’ observations are augmented by those of other travelers.

The westward movement—first largely consisting of Oregon-bound settlers, then joined by Mormons to Salt Lake, then gold seekers to California, and then pioneers to other western regions—began essentially in 1841. This great westward migration by way of wagon roads along the Platte River and westward from there mainly continued for some twenty-five years. It reached a peak in the early 1850s and dwindled considerably in the late 1860s, particularly with completion of the transcontinental railroad to California in 1869. According to the noted Oregon Trail historian Merrill J. Mattes, an estimated 500,000 people traveled along the Platte River in the 1840s to 1860s. Mattes further states that possibly as many as 70,000 used this route in 1852.⁴

The Boatmans participated in the largest westward migration of any year along the central wagon route. Even though the majority of the emigrants went to the California gold fields, Mattes estimates that some 10,000 proceeded to Oregon Territory that year. In his classic, The Plains Across, John D. Unruh Jr. suggests that the figure may be as high as 20,000.⁵

Mary Ann Boatman, age 32, in a portrait taken in Washington Territory, 1865. W.W. Rau family collection

It is often pondered why so many Americans decided to sell their farms or businesses and trek thousands of miles over arid deserts and rugged mountains to reach a supposed utopia. By the middle of the nineteenth century, frontier America had reached the Missouri River. Many persons were discontent with hard times on nonproductive farms. Some were experiencing financial difficulties and wished to improve their economic situation. Others were fleeing the restraints of society, or even evading capture from the law. Indian missionary work drew some, and others were running from a bad romance. Furthermore, illness was prevalent in the Mississippi Valley.

But, in spite of these and many other reasons, the restlessness of young men probably was foremost in convincing so many that, although far away, Oregon must be the answer to achieving prosperity, health, and happiness. Little did they know, or care to know, of the sickness, hazards, and just plain arduous conditions that lay ahead for those who succumbed to this dream known as Oregon Fever.

Of course, those who would profit from this infectious fever, the promoters and entrepreneurs, the suppliers of equipment and provisions, as well as the writers of guidebooks, and others, all encouraged the westward movement with glorified descriptions of travel and life in the West. Such persuasive propaganda further stimulated the enthusiasm of many pioneers.

The U.S. government also presented interesting incentives to encourage Americans to move west. During the early part of the nineteenth century, much had appeared in the American press glamorizing the Oregon Country in an attempt to encourage people to emigrate to and eventually outnumber the British in that land. The United States wanted to establish a population dominance in Oregon in order to strengthen its legitimate claims to the country. From 1818, the British and Americans, mainly fur traders, officially had jointly occupied the Pacific Northwest. By 1840, American settlers were beginning to significantly outnumber the British in the region.

Because the federal government had paid little attention to the governmental affairs of Americans in the Oregon Country, however, settlers there had to establish their own governing body. In 1843, they created a Provisional Government for settling disputes and making general governmental decisions. Finally, in 1846, a boundary on the 49th parallel was agreed upon as a division between American and British possessions, and in 1848 the United States established Oregon Territory. The Provisional Government came to an end.⁶

With the boundary established, the U.S. government still continued to encourage emigration by offering free, or very inexpensive, land. This was another important factor in convincing many a dreamy but ambitious young man to take the giant leap westward. In 1850, Congress passed the Donation Land Act, specifically designed for Oregon Territory. The measure encouraged Americans already there to stay, and further enticed others to emigrate to this new American possession. It provided the opportunity for free land to be acquired by those who had settled in the territory prior to 1850—the law granted 320 acres to single men and 640 acres to married men over the age of eighteen.

The act was extended between 1850 and 1855, and included Washington Territory, formed in 1853. During this period, 160 acres were granted to single men and 320 acres to married men over twenty-one years of age. In 1854, Americans were further enticed to Oregon and Washington when the Preemption Act of 1841 was extended to these territories. It granted any head of family, who did not already own 320 acres, the right to buy 160 acres for $1.25 per acre.⁷

Therefore, by 1852 incentives were sufficiently convincing for many young men to join the overland trek to what was perceived in their minds as a land of Eden. Many died en route. Some estimate that as many as ten percent of those who began the trip were buried along the way.⁸ Of those that survived, many came to the end of the trail penniless and physically exhausted. But, in spite of all their hardships, most of these hardy people did eventually realize their vision of success and happiness.

Americans of the times were themselves largely the product of a pioneering ancestry. During the eighteenth century and early part of the nineteenth century, families had made their way westward, generation after generation. They continued from such Atlantic states as New York, Pennsylvania, or Virginia, to Ohio, Kentucky, or Tennessee, then on to Indiana and Illinois, and finally Missouri or Iowa in a restless search for fertile farm land. The ancestors of Willis and Mary Ann Boatman were no exception.

Willis’s grandparents, John and Anny Willis, moved from Virginia to Kentucky in 1802. In 1828, when Willis was two years old, his parents moved to Indiana. There Willis spent most of his youth on a farm. In 1850, after his father died, the family moved to Decatur, Illinois, where his mother passed away the following year. Willis, with his brother John, then ventured to Sangamon County, Illinois.⁹

Mary Ann’s ancestors, originally from England, arrived in Virginia in 1640. Later generations moved to Kentucky, and then eventually to a farmstead located a few miles south of Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois. It was here that Mary Ann met Willis.¹⁰

With a strong pioneering background and from a mid-nineteenth century central Illinois setting, this young married couple were about to begin the most significant westward move since their English ancestors had crossed the Atlantic Ocean many years before.

Notes

1. Mary Ann Boatman, hand-written, unpublished manuscript describing a journey on the Oregon Trail, 1852 (family document no. 1).

2. Willis Boatman, Story of My Life, hand-written manuscript (family document no. 2). A version is printed in Told by the Pioneers, vol. 1, U.S. Public Works Administration, Washington Pioneer Project, 1937, 184–90.

3. Marjorie Alice (Boatman) Rau, a granddaughter of Willis and Mary Ann Boatman, personal communication with the author.

4. Merrill J. Mattes, Platte River Road Narratives (Urbana and Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 5.

5. Mattes, 5; and John D. Unruh Jr., The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840–60, paperback edition (Urbana, Chicago, and London: University of Illinois Press, 1982), 50.

6. Gregory M. Franzwa, The Oregon Trail Revisited, third edition (Gerald, Missouri: Patrice Press, 1983), 7–10.

7. Washington Centennial Farms: Yesterday and Today (Olympia, Washington: Washington State Department of Agriculture, 1989), 13–16.

8. Aubrey L. Haines, Historic Sites along the Oregon Trail , third edition (St. Louis, Missouri: Patrice Press, 1987), 4; Unruh, 58–61; and Ezra Meeker, Personal Experiences on the Oregon Trail: The Tragedy of Leschi , fifth reprint (Seattle, Washington: Meeker, 1912), 27.

9. Willis Boatman’s grandparents on his father’s mother’s side, John and Ann Willis, moved from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to Madison County, Kentucky, in 1802. Willis’s grandparents on his father’s side, Jessee and Anny Boatman, were living in Kentucky when Willis’s parents, Jacob Boatman (a son of Jessee and Anny), and Elezure Willis (a daughter of John and Anny Willis), met and were married in 1824. Little is known about Jacob and Elezure other than that they farmed and had a family of four girls—Polly, who died when about two years of age, Elizabeth, Letty Ann, and Sarah—and two boys, John and Willis. In 1828, when Willis was about two years old, the family moved from Kentucky to Sullivan County, Indiana. In 1837, his father Jacob died, but his mother with the help of her children continued to maintain the farm where Willis spent most of his youth. In 1850, his mother Elezure sold the farm and moved to Decatur, Illinois. When she died in the following year, Willis and his bother John, with very little possessions or wealth between them, ventured to Sangamon County, Illinois. Willis Boatman, hand-written biography (family document no. 3).

10. William and Hannah Ball, Mary Ann’s great great grandparents, arrived from England in 1640 and settled in Virginia, where they built the family mansion known as Millenbeck. Their son, Mary Ann’s great grandfather John Ball, and wife Nancy (Adams) Ball moved to Kentucky, where they owned a large farm. Mary Ann’s grandfather, William Richardson, married John Ball’s daughter, Jane Ball. They lived in Louisville, Kentucky, where William was a wealthy tobacco merchant who owned two steamboats on the Kentucky River. In 1822, he (William Richardson) sold all of his holdings and moved to Sangamon County, Illinois. Mary Ann’s mother, Mary Ann Snow, with her adopted parents, moved from Madison County, Kentucky, to Illinois in 1825, where she met Louis Richardson, son of William and Jane (Ball) Richardson. Louis Richardson and Mary Ann Snow were married in 1826 and settled on Lick Creek, south of Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois.

Louis and Mary Ann (Snow) Richardson had thirteen children. Mary Ann (Richardson) Boatman was the fourth child and her older brother, of whom she writes, was the second. Very little is known about Mary Ann’s mother, Mary Ann (Snow) Richardson, other than that she most likely was a strong woman to have raised such a large family. Furthermore, she must have been a good and perhaps compassionate mother as her daughter, Mary Ann, wrote fondly of her.

Mary Ann Boatman’s father, Louis Richardson, was ordained in 1859 as a Baptist minister and, although he served as a minister of the Sugar Creek church for a short time, he preached mostly without compensation. While he has been described as brusque, outspoken, and abrupt, he was regarded as a man with high moral character and was respected in the community.

In 1838, the Louis and Mary Ann Richardson family moved from Lick Creek to Sugar Creek in the same county, sixteen miles south of Springfield, Illinois. Mary Ann Boatman (family document no. 1); and a description of Louis B. Richardson, source unknown (family document no. 4).

An oil painting by George Simons depicting Council Bluffs, Iowa (Kanesville), in the early 1850s. This was a major jumping-off place for emigrants crossing the Missouri River. Durham Western Heritage Museum, Omaha, Nebraska

Chapter One

Leaving Home

I went to work together with my brother John Boatman and William Richardson, my wife’s brother, getting ready to start for the great Willamette Valley. We bought a wagon, three yoke of oxen, and one yoke of cows.—Willis Boatman

WILLIS B OATMAN AND M ARY A NN R ICHARDSON were married on October 14, 1851, in Sangamon County, Illinois. He was twenty-four and she eighteen. Willis and his brother John Boatman had arrived in the county earlier that year from Decatur, Illinois. They had brought few possessions with them and therefore Willis had little in the way of resources with which to begin married life. That fall, in keeping with his past agrarian experience, Willis rented a farm and planted a crop of wheat with the intention of settling down. Meanwhile, his brother John had decided to join a family planning to move to Oregon. Thus, during the winter, Willis heard much about the far off land of Oregon.

Although intrigued with the idea of starting a new life in a distant country, young Willis managed to stave off his wanderlust until the family that John had planned to accompany changed their minds about going west, leaving John without a partner. After much discussion with John and Mary Ann’s older brother, William Richardson, the three young men made the momentous decision to form their own little group and, in the coming spring, start out for the Willamette Valley in Oregon Territory. Mary Ann, having some trepidation about such a long trip, had little choice but to accept their decision.

Leaving home was a subject duly discussed in most accounts of the journey west. Many would never again see those family members and friends left behind. The occasion was usually a somber one with emotions running high and tears being shed. A description of a typical scene was related in Catherine Scott Colburn’s recollections. Thirty-eight years after the 1852 journey west from her home in Tazewell County in northern Illinois, she wrote,

silently weeping women and sobbing children, and . . . an aged grandfather standing at his gate as the wagons filed past, one trembling hand shading his eyes, the other grasping a red handkerchief. . . . Good-by, good-by.! say . . . the children with flushed tear-stained faces, grouped at the openings in the wagon cover. The old grandsire’s response was choked with emotion and drowned in the creaking of the wagons.¹

In Sangamon County, Illinois, sixteen miles south of Springfield, Mary Ann began her story of their westward journey in a similar vein, relating her thoughts and emotions on the day of departure.

I will try, in a way, and a poor one at that, to give a few outlines of our journey across the plains and the last day at my . . . home that I loved so dear.

It was the morning of the 29[th] day of March in the year of 1852 . . . that . . . had been set for our start on the long and unconsidered journey to [a] land of prosperity and gold, the greed of all mankind, more precious than all else on earth. The sun shone with as much luster and beauty as though no sorrow could ever enter our long journey.

That day was my brother William’s 22[nd] birthday. He was . . . alive with the thought that the time had come for our departure as were my husband and his brother John Boatman. We were to be as one family, all equal owners in team and provisions. . . . For me there was no joy as I had always loved my home and parents so dear and had known nothing of the hardships of a long journey, but, I was easily assured that it was the best thing for us all. My father and mother being of a favorable spirit, thought it the proper thing for us to do, saying if we liked the country, they would soon follow us.

. . . The hour had come and the oxen yoked and hitched to the big wagon, drove up in front of [the] gate, [the] gate that I had opened and passed through from childhood to woman[hood]. . . . I tried to think it was for the best and leave the impression in my mother’s mind that I would be a woman in my departure and not a child. So we all went to work loading our worldly belongings in the ox-mobile, bedding, clothing, cooking utensils, provisions enough to last six months, medicine, in fact everything for the comfort of a long journey . . . [except] preparation for death, but it came when it was least expected.

About 10 o’clock everything [was] loaded into the big ox wagon. Then came the hardest task of all for me, . . . to say goodbye. But the time had come, . . . a loving embrace, . . . a farewell kiss, a God bless you all. Yes, I stepped out of that dear old house that had been my home all of my life . . . never to enter it again, nor to see my loving mother again. In a year and two months she would be called to abide in a home beyond, where no sorrow, pain, or death are known, to meet her loved ones that had gone on before. Yes, as I said, the time had come. I walked out over the path that I had trod all my short life where I had sported and played with my brothers and sisters and schoolmates. Everything looked so dear to me on that morning. Dear father opened the old gate for me, then [helped] me . . . climb into the big wagon. Then came the words gee, whoa, get up Deke and Dime, Buck and Brite. Those were the oxen’s names. . . . the whip cracked and we were off.

A successful journey depended largely on having the proper equipment. The wagon, of course, was the major item needed for the trip. They varied greatly in design, displaying the innovative nature of the American frontiersman. The Conestoga wagon, manufactured in Pennsylvania, was regarded as the Cadillac of wagons as it was light in weight and sturdily built with high wheels. However, most travelers used wagons that were some variation of those employed around the farm, having been modified to haul sufficient supplies for the six-month trip, and serve as living quarters with sleeping arrangements and general shelter from the elements. This usually was accomplished by the addition of a second or false bottom in the wagon with the supplies placed beneath. The false bottom served as a floor for the living area. It was recommended that the wheels be wide and constructed of wood that would suffer minimal shrinkage in a dry climate. The running gear was removable and the wagon box constructed so that it could be made water tight and used as a boat when fording streams.²

Many wagons were brightly painted and it was not uncommon to see slogans decorating wagon covers. In this regard, Enoch W. Conyers, a single young man who left Quincy, Illinois, on April 30, 1852, in company with Mr. and Mrs. William Burns and family, recorded the following on May 25:

It is quite amusing to note the different mottoes on the wagon covers, such as From Danville, Ill., and bound for Oregon, Bound for California or bust. One wagon just passing, their team consisting of four yoke of two-year-old calves, with the motto, Root, little hog or die, scrawled on both sides of the wagon cover, and on another wagon cover is written, Bound for Origen.³

The uniqueness of these mottoes allowed fellow travelers to more easily identify each other along the trail.⁴

Martha H. Ellis, who also traveled on the Oregon Trail in 1852, departed from Albia, Iowa, and later recalled some details of their wagon.

It had heavy wheels, broad and deep beds, which were divided into two floors, the lower used for provisions and things not needed for every day, and the upper used for clothing in daily use, and was general lounging place during the day and family bedrooms at night. It had a high, arched, canvas-covered roof. In the right-hand corner in the front was our water can and cup. Attached to the wagon bed at the back was the cupboard for victuals, dishes and cooking utensils, and what is lacking in height it made up in width and depth. It generally took four yoke of oxen to draw these heavily loaded wagons.⁵

M.E. Bonney was eight years old at the time of the 1852 journey to Oregon in company with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Bonney, and three other children. Many years later, she recalled the arrangements inside the family wagon.

Our wagon, fitted to meet all needs, served as a day coach, diner, baggage car, all in one. The long wagon box had a chest across each end, the one in the rear being used for pots, pans, dishes, etc.; the one in front for food for daily needs. the bulk of the supplies (flour, sugar, beans, hardtack, etc) was stored in the wagon, for enough of such perishable food had to be provided for the entire trip.

The bows over which the canvas was stretched were high enough for a short person to stand erect under them. Many articles of clothing were hung from these bows.⁶

Oxen usually drew the wagons, although horses and mules sometimes were used. Oxen, although slower, were better able to withstand the rigors of a long journey and could better forage off the land than horses or mules. Furthermore, Indians were not as likely to steal oxen as they would horses. Because of the important service that oxen like Deke and Dime, Buck and Brite performed, their masters usually treated them with utmost respect, caring for their maladies in the best manner available. These animals were vital to the success of the journey. Besides oxen, most families had loose livestock including horses, possibly sheep, and cattle, some of which were milk cows. All became a part of the procession. Sometimes cows were yoked in to either relieve or assist the oxen.⁷

Much advice was available to travelers in the form of guidebooks, newspaper accounts, and other publications regarding what and what not to take on the long journey, but emigrants did not always take heed. Many started out with the family furniture, heavy stoves, and other burdensome equipment, much of which eventually was discarded along the way to lighten the load for the overworked oxen.

In addition to a wagon, other equipment usually taken included an ax, shovel, handsaw, auger, a hundred feet or so of rope, firearms (handgun, rifle, shotgun), an eight or ten gallon keg for water, a churn, and, if the emigrant intended to farm in Oregon, a plow and crosscut saw were advised. For cooking, some recommended a sheet iron stove, but because stoves were heavy, many cooked by an open fire using a tin reflector for baking. A Dutch oven and iron skillet were essentials. Metal utensils were preferred so that breakage would not be a problem. These included tin plates, cups, bowls, a coffeepot, and iron knives, forks, and spoons.

Basic provisions included a six months supply of sea biscuits or hard tack, bacon, beans, rice, dried fruit, tea, coffee, sugar, flour, cornmeal, vinegar, salt, pepper, lard, saleratus (bicarbonate of soda), and molasses. Most families were supplied with milk and butter from their own cows.⁸ Ezra Meeker included eggs that he packed in cornmeal, dried pumpkins, beef jerky, and brandy for medicinal purposes.⁹ In addition to spirits, the medicine kit usually included such items as quinine for malaria, hartshorn for snakebite, citric acid for scurvy, opium, laudanum, morphine, calomel, and tincture of camphor.¹⁰

After one day’s travel, the Boatmans met the first of their traveling companions. Mary Ann’s story continues.

We drove twelve miles where we camped for the night. There we joined the company [the Deacon Thomas Turner party] that we were to travel with.[11]

Although only 12 miles from home and members of the same church, they were strangers to us young folks. My parents were acquainted with the old Deacon and his wife. After unyoking the oxen and feeding them, . . . setting the tent for the first time, [and] supper over, we spent the evening . . . making the acquaintances of our new friends and neighbors. . . . [By bedtime] we all began to feel kindly . . . toward [each] other. The men folk held a meeting and put it to a vote who would serve as captain of the company. The choice fell on the old Deacon Turner. He was a good pious gentleman, . . . well worthy of the honor bestowed him. All being excited with